Jane had come to East Africa from England in 1957, to pursue a dream she'd had since she was a child: to study and write about animals in Africa. In Kenya, legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey hired her as his assistant. He was eager to organize field studies of all the great apes in the wild, for they could teach much about human evolution.

What was known about chimpanzees when Jane Goodall stepped off that boat to begin her study of the wild chimp communities living in Tanzanian forest around one of the world's longest, largest and deepest freshwater lakes, (Lake Tanganyika)?

On July 14, 2010, it will be 50 years to the day that Jane Goodall first stepped out of a game warden’s boat onto the pebbly beach at the Gombe Chimpanzee Reserve in what is today Tanzania. At the time, she expected to be in the forest observing wild chimpanzees for 3 or 4 months.

Those of you who first came to know of Jane Goodall through her seminal books about the chimpanzees of Gombe, In the Shadow of Man and Through a Window, will be happy to know that the books have been re-released in new, updated editions

In the Shadow of Man, first released in 1971, is an overview of Jane’s world-renowned field study of chimpanzees in Tanzania, covering the years through 1970 and including the major discovery of tool use.

Raising awareness is a powerful means of creating change, especially in this day of global communication. If you educate yourself about the bushmeat problem and help spread the word, then you will be making a meaningful contribution to the fight to save chimpanzees and other endangered species.

Below are some points to get your started, along with links to deeper information throughout the web.